New EU project: The goal is to create circular passports

Simply put, side flows must be better mapped - and the process industry encouraged to adopt circular processes, so that valuable raw materials, surplus energy or materials can be reused in another form, or in another process.

The project is called CIRCI, and began in June 2022. It is financed by EEA funds, which are provided by the donor countries Liechtenstein, Iceland and Norway.

Establish database in Slovenia

- In the CIRCI project, we will transfer our experiences from the mapping project to establish a similar database in Slovenia, in order to create an overview of the most important resource flows in the country, says EU advisor in the Eyde cluster, Christophe Pinck, who together with Stine Skagestad (head of circular restructuring in the Eyde Cluster) is involved in the project.

The partners are the Slovenian Chamber of Commerce, the state research enterprise TECOS and the University of Ljubljana.

- We had our first visit in September where we held innovation workshops to identify opportunities for the utilization of resources in the database, says Pinck.

Workshop in Slovenia in the spring

Currently, the Slovenian partners are collecting data. These will then be entered into a database that will be developed in the next phase.

- In the spring, this will be launched in Slovenia and the first innovation workshops will be held there, informs Pinck.

Completely in line with the European Commission's wish for more cooperation across borders and industries in Europe.

At the end of November and until February, the strategy for Horizon Europe, with a focus on energy-intensive industries and advanced material substitutes, will be launched.